This Christmas
by pandorabox82
Summary: Penelope is reflecting on how Christmas is different this year, and how much better it is. Written for FireFliesFlash, and all prompts were used!


Penelope hummed along to Wham's! "Last Christmas", thinking about how much things could change in a year. 2015 had been an odd rollercoaster of a year, but she hoped that now that she was in a stable, loving, relationship, things would look up. Glancing out the window of their house, she watched and waited for him to come up the walk, their Christmas tree in his arms.

As if on cue, it began to snow, delicate little flurries that made everything look like the Earth had been kissed with diamonds, and she smiled even as she shivered a little, feeling cold despite the sweater she was wearing.

"He'll be back soon, Penelope. While I am missing your presence in the living room."

Turning, she gazed at Alex and shrugged a little. "I was sort of waiting on Derek to make his grand reappearance. I get worried when he's out there for too long, you know?"

The older woman nodded. "Oh, of course, I often find myself struggling with that same sensation of unease. But he's with my girlfriend, so between the two of them, they should be able to bring you home the perfect Christmas tree, even if it is rather late to get one."

Penelope bit her lip a little as she shook her head. "That is my fault, I'm afraid. I decided that I wanted a real Christmas tree at the last moment. This house is just so perfect for that, and well, we got busy on cases, and then all of a sudden it became December 23rd, and we still didn't have our tree. We've compromised, and this year, it's staying up through Epiphany."

They took a seat on the sofa and Alex wrapped her arms around her legs as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "We're going to be celebrating the twelve days of Christmas ourselves. Of course, Day One will be celebrated with you and Derek before we catch the train back to Boston on Boxing Day."

"How have you adjusted to living together? I must admit, it was quite a shock to hear her voice pick up on the other end of the line when I called you to see how you were doing."

"Erin always was good at surprising people," she murmured as she rested her head against the back of the sofa. "I was quite surprised at how well we fit together. No one was supposed to know that she was in Boston, and then we ran into each other at the Gardner Museum. She had her children with her, and well, it was awkward to say the least. But how did you and Morgan end up dating? The last I knew, he was still with Savannah."

"Well, it turns out that she was not quite so open to the idea of Derek being so close to me after I broke things off with Sam. An unattached woman, on such intimate terms with a man who is supposed to be that close only with his lover, well….it was a recipe for disaster."

Alex nodded as she turned her head and gazed at Penelope. "Did it work out right away between you?" she asked softly, and Penelope nodded, wondering what was going through the woman's mind. Even though they had grown closer in the last year, there was something still so inscrutable about her inner workings.

"It did, it felt like everything just fell into place. Is that what it was like between you and Erin?"

Alex shook her head as she closed her eyes. "We fought so much. I was dealing with the fallout from James walking out on me, and I was snippy with her. She kept pushing back, though, until we ended up kissing for the first time. I'm asking her to marry me tomorrow night, at 11:59, in the hopes that I receive a Christmas miracle."

Penelope squealed a little with happiness as she leaned over and threw her arms around Alex. "Oh, I know that she is going to say yes, she has to!"

Alex nodded against Penelope's shoulder, a delicate sigh escaping her lips. "I had thought that I had given up on miracles, you know. And then, Erin crashed back into my life and I had to admit that there were stranger things in Heaven and Earth."

"Mm hmm," she murmured in response as she began to run her fingers through Alex's soft hair, staring at the spot where she wanted the tree to go. Finally, she heard someone knocking heavily on the door, and she carefully dislodged Alex before standing up and smoothing her skirt. "Well, let's go see what they picked out for me."

"All right," Alex said as she clumsily stood, weaving on her feet a little. "I guess I'm a little more tired than I thought." Penelope nodded as she hastily clasped Alex's hand and led her to the door. Opening it, the first thing she saw was Erin standing there, holding a large, traditional, wreath.

"Your door needed something that would make it pop. I was lucky to find something so beautiful this late in the season, and for fifty percent off, too!" Erin beamed at her before thrusting the wreath into her arms and making her way over to Alex, kissing her softly. "I may have picked up some leftover mistletoe for us, too, darling," she purred out as she wrapped her arm around Alex's waist.

"But where's my Boo?" Penelope asked, peeking out the door to see Derek bringing a medium sized tree down from the roof of his truck. It was perfect, even if it was a little raggedy, and she squealed as she gave the wreath back to Erin and ran out to her lover's side. "Derek! This is so perfect!" she said as she took hold of the base of the tree, helping him to carry it inside.

Somehow, in the short time that took, Erin and Alex had gotten the wreath up on the door and were standing there, grinning at them. "We're going to take off now, Erin mentioned something about wanting to go see the holiday lights on our way back to the hotel," Alex said a bit breathlessly, her cheeks flushed with desire.

"Somehow, I rather think that Erin wants to help you see stars," Derek replied with a lecherous laugh. Erin gave them a quick nod, her arm going around Alex's waist. Penelope giggled a little when she saw Alex's hand reach up and pull her hand down from her breast, and both women glared at her a little. "Good night, ladies."

"Good night, Derek," Erin sang out as she led Alex from the house, pressing kisses to both their cheeks as she left. Penelope shut the door and squeaked a little when Derek backed her against it and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss. She felt her knees buckle a little under the force of the kiss and she wrapped her arms around Derek's neck for support.

"Merry Christmas to me," she purred out as they finally came up for air. He grinned at her before winking and then picked up the tree, carrying it into the living room. Penelope reached down and picked up her mug, finding the once hot chocolate was now decidedly cool, though still enjoyable.

"Did you make enough for me?" Derek asked as he balanced the tree against the wall, and she shook her head. "Really? I guess I'll just have to get a taste of chocolate another way." Stalking over to her side, he bent down and kissed her once more, his tongue darting out to lap at the seam of her lips. Sighing, she opened her mouth, letting his tongue taste her.

"Um, Der, we need to get the tree set up before we can focus on more pleasant pursuits," she said as she squirmed away from him and picked up the pitcher of water. "She'll need water so that she doesn't start dropping her needles. That was the thing I hated the most about a real tree when I was growing up – stepping on those damned things!"

He laughed as he cut the rope holding the tree closed and she knelt down on the floor, helping him to get the base of the tree into the stand. Once it was there, she turned the screws until the tree was steady. Then she picked up the pitcher and poured the entire thing into the stand before getting up. "And now we just have to decorate the thing."

Penelope groaned a little at the thought of doing that, knowing that the task was huge. "Do we have to?"

"Yes. And for each decoration you put on the tree, you can steal a kiss." She pouted a little. "Oh, do not look at me like that, Baby Girl. There is no way on God's green earth that I am doing all the work. You have to help me out here!"

She nodded as she sashayed over to the coffee table, pulling the lid off the box of lights. "The first thing that we have to do is put the lights on. You can't have a tree without lights."

It was his turn to groan as the tangled mess came out in one giant clump. "There has to be a better way to put those suckers away. That is going to take us the longest, Penelope."

She smiled sweetly at him as she shrugged. "Every time we get a string on, we can kiss. After all, that might help the time pass a little more quickly." He just shook his head at hearing his own words parroted back at him and held out his hand. Smiling, she handed him the one end and watched as he curved the lights around the top of the tree. "And make sure you get them as close together as possible. I love lights, so there are a lot of them here!"

"I just hope that this doesn't blow a circuit breaker," Derek muttered as he moved the rows up a little, making them as close together as he could. As he worked, she detangled the strings as best she could. And every time he finished one row, he would steal a kiss. Penelope found herself wishing that he would hurry up.

"Are you sure we can't leave this until tomorrow? After all, it will be Christmas Eve, and I want to spend some time with you now." She gave him her most seductive look, and Derek just shook his head a little. "Really?"

"The buildup makes everything worthwhile in the end." His grin made her want to smack him before leaving the room and finding her own way to pleasure herself. "And I can see what you're thinking in those eyes of yours. Baby Girl, I am the only one who will be bringing you pleasure tonight."

She rolled her eyes a little before handing him the next to last string of lights, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Fine. You do know that after this, we have the tinsel, the candy canes, and then the ornaments to put on? Along with the Deathstar at the top?"

"We are not having a Star Wars decoration fill in for the Star on our tree, Penelope. Just, no."

Another pout stuck her lip out and he shook his head. "Come on! I made it myself!"

"No. This is the one thing that we're going to have on our tree that is traditional!" She frowned and went to stamp her foot, only to have him shake his head again. "Don't even think about it, Penelope. This is seriously the one thing that I won't budge on."

"Fine." She muttered little nothings under her breath as she strung up the tinsel. Derek followed her around the tree with the candy canes, which made quick time of the work. A certain peace fell over Penelope as she switched to the ornaments, and she fell into a zone, placing them just so. "Oh, Der, it's almost Christmas!"

"I know," he murmured before kissing her deeply. "And since you were so good about hanging the ornaments, I think that Santa left a bunch of mistletoe hanging above your head. Who do you want to meet under it?"

"Ooh, are Erin and Alex still up?" she teased, watching the way he rolled his eyes as he grinned at her. "I suppose that I should just kiss who I have available," she said as she closed the distance between them and gave him a long, lingering, kiss. "Merry Christmas, Derek."

"Merry Christmas, Penelope," he whispered in reply as he began to lead her up the stairs to their bedroom. It was going to be a good Christmas this year.


End file.
